Many of the components of lesson planning overlap in the sense that instructional strategies focus on ways to engage and motivate learners. This article identifies several instructional strategies designed to appeal to the designed to reach and motivate different types of learners. Strategies include use of simulations, case studies, and role playing activities. I would use these kinds of learning activities to provide an opportunity for learners to practice a new skill in a safe and supportive environment.

In lesson planning, I would be cognizant of Blooms’ three learning domains: cognitive, psychomotor and affective. These learning domain concepts would assist me the identifying which domain – and therefore which instructional strategies I should employ – to achieve the desired learning outcomes.

For learning frameworks, I have selected Gagné’s framework because the approach fits best with my instructional contexts. Robert Gagne’s 1965 book, The Conditions of Learning, developed the “9 Events of Learning” framework. These nine stages are: gain attention, inform learners of objectives, stimulate recall of prior learning, present the content, provide learning guidance, elicit performance or practice, provide feedback, assess performance, enhance retention and transfer to the job. Using this framework will assist me in developing lesson plans that are effective, and assist learners in applying new information to their work.

As an instructor, one of the barriers to engaging adults in the learning process is making their learning relevant. While comfort with new technology often correlates with age, is it possible that requiring technology-use in the learning process could create additional relevance for the adult learner?

In Building Community and Creating Relevance in the Online Classroomauthors Erickson and Neset identify the importance of regular communication, and creating relevance through current events, online content and social media:

Students crave relevance, so consider connecting the unit material to current affairs. Share links to news stories, Twitter feeds, or articles that make the learning material applicable to life outside the classroom. If you teach business, marketing, public relations, among others, there are numerous opportunities to wrap an assignment or discussion around the public movements (or missteps) of high-profile companies. If you can make it applicable, you can even use celebrity news stories, as students enjoy hearing about this type of material. Perhaps there is a poetry slam or book reading you’d like your students to attend. Maybe a future art exhibit is relevant to your content or a well-known speaker is giving a lecture on campus. All of these strategies keep students apprised of current events and demonstrate your efforts to connect their classroom with the real world. Sharing this information via e-communication frees up valuable classroom time that you can spend engaging students in the content of course material rather than administrative details.

The commentary on technology in adult learning has caused me to reflect critically on the classroom, pen and paper learning format. Technology offers new strategies for engaging and providing relevance for learners.

While society debates proper cellphone etiquette, instructors have struggled with other challenges related to cellphone and smart phone use in the classroom. Cellphones have a reputation for being disruptive, distracting, disrespectful, not to mention their role in plagiarism. But what about harnessing cellphone technology for adult learning? The Oxford University Press blog on adult English language instruction offers the flip-side to annoying cellphone-use in the classroom. .

In the trade union context, the term popular education is often used to describe the learning model. But does the model incorporate what we know about the characteristics of adult learners from the body of adult learning theories? Indeed, we see the popular education model incorporating the work of Knowles, Blooms’ taxonomy, and Freire. In my work, Knowles’ approach is helpful because union education incorporates the importance of creating an emotionally safe and respectful environment, where prior experience is valued. The model also recognizes that adult learners retain more of what has been learned when the learning is experiential.